


Trust Me

by nicolai



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fish, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other, Protectiveness, Swimming, swimming lessons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 08:29:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6044917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicolai/pseuds/nicolai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko's afraid of the fish in the ocean and pauses swimming lessons, but his older cousin Lu Ten knows how to reassure him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust Me

Trust Me

“Zuko, Zuko, calm down!” Lu Ten rushed to say, picking up his baby cousin and turning around in the water, so his back was to their fathers; he didn’t think Ozai had seen his son panic yet and he wasn’t going to let that happen if he could help it. 

“Fish touched me!” Zuko explained, pressing against his small body against the older boy’s bare chest and wrapping his arms around his neck. 

Lu Ten chuckled and hugged him close, “It’s okay, the fish won’t hurt you. He’s got a tiny mouth and no teeth. You’re alright.” He glanced back at the adults: Iroh, his father, was sitting at the edge of the water, drinking tea and watching them. Ozai was reading a scroll, his lack of glaring at them confirmed that he hadn’t seen anything. And Ursa was nursing baby Azula in the shade, rather absorbed in bonding with her daughter. 

“No teeth?” Zuko questioned, looking back at the water curiously; he was very interested in how something could eat without teeth. 

“Nope, none. Some of these guys have a rough spot in their mouth to smash worms and stuff, but nothing that could hurt you,” Lu Ten explained, patting his back, “And they don’t want to hurt you anyway. They just don’t know why you’re here.”

Squirming to get back to the water, Zuko leaned down to watch the fish, “Fishies, we’re on vacation. And Lu Ten is teaching me to swim.”

“That’s right, cousin,” Lu Ten held back his laughter at that bit of adorable behavior; the look on Zuko’s face was so serious and genuine, “I’m sure they’re glad to know.”

The younger prince grinned up at him, “Yeah!”

“Alright, you ready to try again?” Lu Ten kept his hands on Zuko’s sides, but stepped away so the boy could lean down in the water and practice kicking. 

Zuko hesitated, grabbing onto his arms, “Don’t let go!”

“I won’t. Trust me,” Lu Ten gave a reassuring smile that quickly turned to one of approval as Zuko began practicing the strokes he’d shown him.


End file.
